[ Have a Safe and Happy New Year My Friends! }

{ Spencer's Win }

Now that Spencer from Bellamere Cottage has rec'd her Holiday Happiness Giveaway package, I thought I would share what I sent her.

2 Holiday-inspired books by Nora Roberts...

2 Pretty Victorian Santa ornaments...

And a sweet little Whitman's tin of chocolates :-)

She was pleased with her goodies, and I am pleased that she's pleased :-)

Our weather is frightfully cold right now...nights are in the single digits. I'm sure most of you are experiencing the same cold snap. Ugh. Try to stay warm my friends! Hope the New Year will bring everyone their heart's desire.

Looking forward to Spring,

{ Whew! It's Over! }

Wow! This was one hectic Christmas for me! I ended up having to work most of the week before the big day. Got off at 3 pm Christmas Eve and went right to my sister's house. She does an awesome Christmas Eve every year. I wish I had taken photos of her decorations. Her entire house is Country Blue and white and all of her decos are blue, white and silver. Simply breathtaking. They have a WII, and even though I was bone-tired from working, she managed to coerce me into joining her for a go at Madonna's "Holiday" on Dance Blast (I think it's called). Anyway...what fun...and what a work-out!!!

Christmas morning was quiet, except for my favorite part of the morning. That's when the puppers open their gifts. They know it's Christmas, and I can't put their gifts under the tree anymore because Bailey steals them ,takes them under the bed and unwraps them. Too funny.

Here are some photos of the fun....

This is Bailey nomming on Santa...

Violet gets a new Hedgie every year and goes straight for the nose!

Needless to say, the living room was full of stuffing in short order! Fun was had by all :-) And how was YOUR holiday???

{ My Christmas Card To You }

{ A Little Something I Made }

Couldn't sleep last night. so I got out my box of random Christmas cards, the scissors, the Elmer's and some glitter. Voila!!!

Probably shouldn't have used the cheap Elmer's...I forgot how it wrinkles up paper when it dries...but, oh well! It's still pretty dang cute!!!

{ Makin' stuff... }

Wow! Have you all been as busy as me??? I'm sure you have :-) Not only have I had to work the last couple of days...long hours to boot, but I had to cram in my holiday goodie making as well!!! Whew!!! This year I only made sugar cookies, browned butter cookies and vanilla fudge. The sugar cookies I will skip, but here are my other recipes.

 

 VANILLA FUDGE

 * 3 Cups sugar

* 1/2 Cup corn syrup

* 1 1/4 Sweetened condensed milk (1 14 oz. can)

* 1 tsp. vanilla

* 1/2 - 1 Cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1. In HEAVY saucepan combine sugar, syrup , sc milk and butter.

2. Cook over med - med low heat until it reaches firm ball stage.

3. Remove from heat, beat in vanilla and nuts.

4. Turn out into buttered, wax paper-lined baking dish.

5. Cool and cut into squares.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BROWNED BUTTER COOKIES

* 1 cup butter

    * 2/3 cup sugar

    * 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar 

(I used 1 tablespoon fine sugar with 1 teaspoon pure Madagascar vanilla extract added)

    * 2 1/3 cups flour

    * 1 teaspoon baking powder

    * Caramelized sweetened condensed milk

    1. In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt butter on low heat, stirring occasionally, until browned. Stir in sugar and vanilla sugar and remove from heat. Let cool.

   2. Combine flour and baking powder and beat in cooled butter mixture to form a smooth dough.

   3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Roll small balls of dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter.

   4. Place dough balls about an inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make a 'well' in the center of cookie and place in it a small amount of the caramelized sweetened condensed milk.

   5. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until edges just start to turn golden. 

   6. Remove from baking sheet after 1 minutes and let cool on wire racks.

AND don't forget the clean-up crew!!!!

{ Winner Winner }

Time to announce the winner of my

I put all the entries into a box...........

My original plan was to have MDH pick the winner...BUT.....

someone else decided that HE wanted to do it!!!

He tentatively tapped them all.....

Then said " I know the right one is in here somewhere"...(dig dig)

Then he flipped one over.....and it said.....

Congrats SPENCER from Bellamere Cottage !!!!!!!

I'll be mailing out her goodies as soon as I hear from her :-)

Thank you to all of you sweet souls who entered.
I'm coming up on my 400th post soon, so..... another giveaway!!! LOL!!!
I just LOVE to do this!!!

{ A few decos... }

I have been very impressed by all you bloggers out there who have finished decorating for the holidays! And, OH, what decorations you have! I'm in awe :-) I can't seem to get in the swing of things yet. I work retail...(yeah, I know...what a time of year to have THAT job! LOL!)...and I'm pooped out most days. I have managed to get a few things done, and I'm not sure how much more I really want to do. I think I'd rather pour what little energy I have left into some BAKING! But here a re a few pics of what's been done....

Made this centerpiece from an old wooden bullet  box....

Found this cute little ceramic sleigh at Goodwill and just added some pretty picks...

These are my favorite wooden candles..I've had them for years! 

I may re-paint them eventually and add some glitter!

Here is our humble little tree....

Complete with cat!!!

{ Pink Saturday }

I haven't participated in Pink Saturday for a LONG while! My last contribution was way back when my blog had a different name and theme! I really missed it!

I jus have a couple of things to share...

My sister found some PINK vintage ornaments for me at Goodwill yesterday. I've been looking everywhere for some, but pink ones tend to be a little spendy. These were 99 cents!

I was visiting blogs this AM and happened upon these....

I want some SOOO bad! Unfortunately the web site where they come from is all out of this design. I'm going to continue to look other places.

Hop on over to Beverly's blog...How Sweet the Sound to join in the pink festivities!

Don't forget to enter my Holiday Happiness Giveaway! You have til December 15th!

I post this poem every year during this time because I believe in the importance of taking care of our less fortunate fur-folk. My husband and I don't buy each other too many gifts, preferring to spend that little bit of extra cash on bags of dog and cat food for the local shelters. I tear up every time I read this.

A Shelter Dog's Christmas

'Tis the night before Christmas and all through the town,

Every shelter is full. We are lost but not found.

Our numbers are hung on our kennels so bare.

We hope every minute that someone will care.

They'll come to adopt us and give us the call,

"Come here, Max and Sparkie. Come fetch your new ball!!"

But now we sit here and think of the days

We were treated so fondly. We had cute, baby ways.

Once we were little, then we grew and we grew -

Now we're no longer young and we're no longer new.

So out the back door we were thrown like the trash.

They reacted so quickly. Why were they so rash?

We "jump on the children," "don't come when they call,"

We "bark when they leave us," "climb over the wall."

We should have been neutered. We should have been spayed.

Now we suffer the consequence of the errors THEY made.

If only they'd trained us. If only we knew...

We'd have done what they asked us and worshiped them, too.

We were left in the backyard, or worse - left to roam.

Now we're tired and lonely and out of a home.

They dropped us off here and they kissed us good-bye...

"Maybe someone else will give you a try."

So now here we are, all confused and alone

In a shelter with others who long for a home.

The kind workers come through with a meal and a pat.

With so many to care for, they can't stay to chat.

They move to the next kennel, giving each of us cheer.

We know they wonder how long we'll be here.

We lay down to sleep and sweet dreams fill our heads

Of a home filled with love and our own cozy beds.

Then we wake to see sad eyes, brimming with tears -

Our friends filled with emptiness, worry, and fear.

If you can't adopt us and there's no room at the inn,

Could you help with the bills and fill our food bin?

We count on your kindness each day of the year.

Can you give more than hope to everyone here?

Please make a donation to pay for the heat

And help get us something special to eat.

The shelter that cares for us wants us to live

And more of us will, if more people will give.

~ author unknown ~ 

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHELTER!